Portal game crashes after first level before walking into first portal

Hello, I just bought the game Portal by Valve and I installed it last night. I started it up and the menu screen came up fine etc, then I click the New Game button and I am in the first room. The counter counts down and the computer voice talks and then after the timer ends and the portal opens. I don't even walk into the portal but 1-2 seconds after the portal opens, it freezes and then crashes. Any help with this?? I really wanna play this...

umm computer specs are...

Windows XP

Dell Inspiron 530S

Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU

E2140 @ 1.60GHz

1.20GHz, 0.99 GB of RAM

Physical Addres Extension

uhh i dont know if theres anything else i can tell you, so if you guys could help it would be appreciated.

besides the fact that your using a dell...

anyways, what kind of gpu do you have? also i think newer source games require 1.7ghz processors.

I would say it's just that your computer has diffculties running the game, but still i know some poeple who ran that game on worst computer systems then this one. I would reformate if i was you because it is the simple way to solve problems as such, but i would also say i might be that your computer is overheating, what kind of power supply you have, do you use cooling such as externe fan or something and most important, did you try to overclock your cpu, gpu or ram with softwares, since there is no way you OC a DELL from BIOS.

Peace

besides the fact that your using a dell...

anyways, what kind of gpu do you have? also i think newer source games require 1.7ghz processors.

Xeros606

I've tried shutting everything but the game off, and trying a smaller screen, and other things. It still crashes when the portal opens (once i actually walked through the portal but then it crashed.)

what is GPU?

I don't know what powersupply I have...

I will try restarting and then trying it...

I really don't want to go through reformating again..

And I don't know about overclocking. Or what that is for that matter :S

I think I installed steam when I installed this game. I am going to try reinstalling everything.

How do I know what video card I have? Do I need a better one?

I think reformating will be my last option....

Good news i found my video card thing type i think.. anyways heres some computer talk, uhh you guys can help me figure out what it means.

adapter type:

Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family

Adapter Info:
Chip Type: Intel(R) GMA 3100
DAC Type: Internal
Memory Size: 128 MB
Adapter String: Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
Bios Info: Intel Video BIOS

Good news i found my video card thing type i think.. anyways heres some computer talk, uhh you guys can help me figure out what it means.

adapter type:

Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family

Adapter Info:
Chip Type: Intel(R) GMA 3100
DAC Type: Internal
Memory Size: 128 MB
Adapter String: Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
Bios Info: Intel Video BIOS

alexes98989

yeah, sorry, but your pretty screwed with that graphics chip. reformatting won't do anything to help. Its a common problem and steam havn't done anything about it, which kinda sucks.

okay, the only problem is i have no idea what card i would need. I am looking on craigs list and I see a bunch of mumbo jumbo.

8X AGP Radeon 64MB DDR2 graphics card

is that good enough ??? i think its like 50 bucks (25 pounds for you english folk i think ?? i converted it)

okay, the only problem is i have no idea what card i would need. I am looking on craigs list and I see a bunch of mumbo jumbo.

8X AGP Radeon 64MB DDR2 graphics card

is that good enough ??? i think its like 50 bucks (25 pounds for you english folk i think ?? i converted it)

alexes98989

for $50 that is one epic ripoff.

okay does it make a difference if it is used or not? or should i just buy a brand new one? seriously those names are just random letters and numbers to me and i dont know whats what so I guess im just gonna be safe and buy Nvidia 8500GT thing and i hope this will work. alexes98989

if thats really the case, just go to a local computer store and consult their advice. or just buy a completely beefed up alienware so you dont have to worry about system requirements. or just forget you ever even bought portal. its not that great imo.

I've decided on getting this thing: NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT 256MB DDR3 Video Card PCI-E Dual

and I hope it good enough.

Thanks everyone for the quick responces.

besides the fact that your using a dell...

anyways, what kind of gpu do you have? also i think newer source games require 1.7ghz processors.

Xeros606

What's wrong with Dell? My towers a Dell and works spectacularly!

I have a Dell Inspiron 530s. With the pre-installed graphics drivers I could play Portal, Half-Life 2 episdoe 2 and Team Fortress 2. After installing the new drivers from the intel website, the games I just listed stopped working with a black background after the opening screen (guy with plug in head then the game screen saying loading then black).

Half Life 2 Episode one lagged in a room before I upgraded the drivers (too bad it broke the rest of the games, especially portal). The new drivers fixed the lag in the big room in Half Life 2 Episode one. I also tried Quake3 and of course Quake3 still runs fine with the newest drivers.

I think I'll rollback my driver (Intel G33 integrated graphics) so I can finish Portal then reinstall the new driver because it obviously fixes some issues (but causes others). To be fair, I was surprised Portal ran on the integrated G33 chipset (playable speed too, only laggy in one or two spots). The speed increase in the big room on Half Life Episode one makes me wish the new intel driver didn't break Portal and the other newer Orange Box games. :(

Summary:

The old Intel G33 driver (have fun finding it without an old Dell install CD) works on all games in Orange Box, but has lag issues in some rooms (and is mostly unplayable in TeamFortress2 and sucks pretty bad in HL2 Ep2).

New driver works only on old games (no Portal, no Half-Life2 Episode 2, no TeamFortresss2) but works a lot better on older games like Half Life 2 Espisode One.

Also, if you're going to get a new video card for your Dell Inspiron 530s you have to get a slimline card, and also you have to get a slimline bracket for it. Even if you buy a slimline card, it will come with a normal bracket. You have to buy the slimline bracket seperately. Also, some slimlines might not even fit into the 530s. You have to do some web browsing.

I figured out why my game was black screening. I had to go into the steam program and configure each game (portal etc) with the launch command:

-autoconfig

After adding that they all work with the new intel G33 graphics drivers. I can even play Team Fortress 2 at very reasonable speed. I love it!

**** valve >:(

More newbies dredging up old posts. It never gets old.:lol: